UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. — Three Penn State students earned spots among five finalists to be selected PRWeek Outstanding Student of the Year 2022 — a highly competitive national distinction with the overall winner to be named in mid-March.
Senior advertising/public relations majors Colton Breon, Margaret Pfeifle and Morgan Sheedy advanced as finalists in the competition. This year’s realistic and timely challenge was creating a plan for NBC and its coverage of the Beijing 2022 Winter Olympics that increases viewership by improving the user experience and spotlights athletes in innovative ways while preparing for the reputational issues with holding the games in China.
“It was a lot, and sounded daunting at first, but if you broke it down and focused on the pieces, ideas started to come together,” Pfeifle said. “With such an amazing opportunity, I really wanted to invest my time and give it my all.”
Penn State students were introduced to the challenge midway through the fall semester. They had a few weeks to formulate individual plans before offering feedback to each other. Final submissions needed to meet a December deadline.
Breon focused a lot of time early in his process on research.
“I really wanted some bullet-proof research,” he said. “It took a while, and it felt like there initially might not be enough time to write and pull it all together, but doing all the research made the parts after that easier.”
He offered a campaign to “gamify” the Olympics. His submission, "League of Olympians," focused on the popularity of gaming and esports among millennial and Gen Z viewers. His theme of competition sought to connect the classic competitions that play out during the Olympics with a modern focus on the interactivity of digital media and influencers in the gaming space.
Pfeifle’s campaign, titled “Together We Can,” focused on Gen Z's deeply rooted expectation of inclusivity and equity when it comes to a brand's promise. Her campaign focused on brand activations and TikTok influencer tactics that sought to help a diverse generation of new Olympic viewers "see themselves" in the Olympics.
Sheedy’s campaign, "See the Olympics Like Never Before," focused on fan engagement though a fun TikTok dance challenge. Her idea focused on celebrity influencers like The Jonas Brothers and leveraged NBC’s suite of news platforms to earn the campaign media.
After the students submitted their campaigns, they waited to hear about the results.
When they received emails notifying them of their finalist status a few weeks ago, their responses were unified as well — with them calling parents, friends and faculty member Tara Wyckoff almost immediately. Wyckoff, an assistant teaching professor of advertising/public relations in the Donald P. Bellisario College of Communications, regularly presents the PRWeek challenge to her students.
“All of the submissions were strategic, streamlined and professional,” Wyckoff said. “They were error-free, focused on their target audiences and well-designed. They were realistic, defining tactics without taking on too many related tasks. Overall, they were representative of what I would expect from professionals.”
Penn State also had three national finalists last year and has had at least one national finalist in each of the past four years.
The next-to-last step for this year’s finalists was a one-on-one phone call to pitch their idea. They had three minutes to sell and summarize their idea and then two minutes to answer questions.
“I think the pitch went well,” Pfeifle said. “After seeing it all come together, I was pleased with my idea, and I believe I communicated it effectively.”
The call felt matter of fact — and valuable — to Sheedy.
“It was the most real-world experience I’ve ever had, and my classes here had prepared me for that,” Sheedy said. “You just had to jump in quickly and make your pitch, with questions coming right back at you.
“It was really a good experience because I had never worked on a campaign from the ground up. All that went into it are things I’ll be able to take to me into my career.”
All that remains is one final part — waiting. An overall winner will be announced in mid-March.
After experiencing “pretty raw excitement” when he was notified, Breon admitted he’s not super patient and waiting will not be easy.
“I’m obviously happy to be top-five in a great competition, and it’s really great there are three of us from Penn State, but putting it out of mind will not be easy,” he said. “If you try not to think about it, you end up thinking about it more.”